


Only Time Will Tell

by Gwendoly



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 14:32:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3695888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwendoly/pseuds/Gwendoly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ending his watch duty for the night, Zoro was more than ready to get some sleep himself. But just when he was about to wake the shitty cook up by pulling his leg, he noticed something strange. Instead of two beds - Zoro's and Chopper’s - there was three empty beds. Seemed like it was Luffy's. And that was why it was all so weird. Of course he couldn't just ignore it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Time Will Tell

**Author's Note:**

> ✤ I wrote this fic a few years ago and posted it on ff.net and deviantart, so that's why you might have seen it before. I fixed it a bit, so hopefully it's better now!  
> ✤ This is set to post Enies Lobby time, they have just left Water 7 for good. No spoilers in this one though.  
> ✤ No actual pairings, but if you're an avid LuZoLu shipper (like me) you can squint a little and there it is. Nakamashipping at least?

A dark, deep night had once again settled upon the Grand Line, lulling even the lively Thousand Sunny and its sailors into a soft sleep. Even on the most dangerous ocean in the world, the Strawhat crew could always close their eyes for much-needed sleep with the feeling of complete safety, when one of them was awake and keeping watch in the crow's nest.

Tonight the crew's strong swordsman was in the watch duty. Zoro didn't quite know if he either liked or hated the job. He spent a lot time in the gym located in the highest mast of the ship on their voyages, usually training or napping to kill the time. At daytime it was noisy as hell everywhere you went on the ship and it was really hard to find a silent place to take a comfortable nap in, so the crow's nest was the best place for naps if you didn't want to get disturbed by crewmates or a springy, over energetic captain.

The good side of the watch duty was that at nighttime the ship was quiet and it felt like it was the only time when you could sigh in relief. In the men’s quarters you could never be in complete silence at night though, because someone always snored or talked in their sleep. And the good side had a bad point as well: even though it was calm for once, you couldn’t sleep in the duty because you had to keep watch!

Zoro sighed and watched the clock ticking on the wall, slowly but determinately. Still 30 minutes and he could go and wake someone up to switch, since they had arranged some time ago that the watch duty was only for half a night so everyone could get some sleep and the watcher would be more alert.

The time went slowly, even more so because Zoro couldn't train to pass the time, but the next time he remembered to take a look at the clock he had already been ten minutes overtime. With an exhausted grunt Zoro pushed himself up from the bench and took a few steps to reach the hatch, before starting to climb the ladders down.

With a soft thump he landed on the grassy deck and began to make his way towards the men's quarters. Only just when he had opened the door to see he had walked over to he kitchen instead, he realized he had gone in the wrong direction. With an irritated grumble Zoro shut the door, careful not to slam it and freak Chopper out who slept in his own room nearby (he loved his own room).

Finally finding the right door, Zoro marched in to the cabin where snoring filled the air, along with some mumbling from his sleeping crewmates’ mouths. Deciding in his mind that it was that curly brow's time to sit in the watch duty, he started to wander over to the bunk beds. Just when he was about to wake the shitty cook up by pulling his leg, he noticed something strange. Instead of two beds - Zoro's and Chopper’s - there was three empty beds. Seemed like it was Luffy's. And that was why it was all so weird.

The rubber captain was always very energetic and could handle very much - inhumanly much - pain and physical exhaustion. That's why he always, even for his good appetite and love of food, ate so freaking much and especially after fights slept very deeply and well. Enies Lobby was the last big battle they had overcome, and Luffy sure had eaten and slept well after that. All Zoro could think was that Luffy was simply too full of energy and that's why he couldn't sleep, since even the Usopp problem was solved now.

Even though the swordsman was exhausted, he couldn't relax himself into sleep if he didn't know where the laidback careless captain was fooling around in this hour. With an irritated sigh he left the cook's leg in peace for now and left the cabin to find out where his stupid captain was hiding in. As he crossed the deck he couldn't help but think if the boy had fallen into the black ocean and drowned since there was no one awake to save him. Quickly the thought was washed away in hope that he would understand at least that much and not play around when it was seriously the matter that no one would, or could save him.

Coming up with an idea, Zoro made his way back to the kitchen, wondering if Luffy had somehow figured out the code for the fridge. Stepping inside the big room he noticed the refrigerator remained untouched. For some reason Zoro couldn't think of another place where Luffy would want to spend his night alone instead of sleeping. Any other, but maybe...

Zoro frowned in annoyance after he had made sure Luffy didn't sit in his favourite seat, on the Thousand Sunny's head. Starting to grow impatient and more exhausted, he decided to look from every room of the ship. Luffy had to be somewhere, so eventually he should run into him, right? This night was going to be a long one.

After checking from almost all of the rooms Zoro hadn't found his captain. If he had had even a little bit more energy left, he would've been very surprised not finding him even from his favourite spots, but right at the moment he was too tired to even think about it. Not expecting to find him from the last room at all, the swordsman very lazily made his way up the ladders, calling himself stupid in his mind for trying to find the captain who possibly just woke up for toilet or something and was already sleeping soundly in his swinging bed.

The surprise was so big that Zoro felt more awake momentarily as his brain tried to process the sight he saw, and for some reason he felt a sudden need to go and wake everyone up very quickly to witness this themselves since no one would believe him if he told them in the morning. Of all the places in the ship, he found Luffy from the ship's library, reading a book.

 

Luffy. Reading a book. In the middle of the night. Silently. Calmly. Reading a book. _Book_.

 

Was this the true nature of their stupid and reckless captain?

_No way._ A soft, unbelieving laugh left from Zoro's lips.

 

Seemingly Luffy hadn't heard Zoro, since he was so into the book, so the man climbed up and walked closer to the captain who was sitting at Nami's navigation table. Suddenly the boy talked.

"UOOOH! That's so cool!!"

 

Well, that sounded like Luffy. Unmistakably honest amazement. Definitely Luffy.

 

"Uh... Luffy," Zoro spoke silently. No answer…

"Lu—“

" _Ooooh_ , I didn't even remember that happened!" Luffy chuckled and Zoro understood he hadn't heard him and was talking to himself.

 

"Oi, Luffy. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Zoro asked louder with a slightly irritated tone. Luffy turned quickly, his surprised expression turning into a frown.

"Zoro! What are you doing here in the middle of the night?!" The captain asked, like Zoro had never talked to him first. The swordsman gritted his teeth. "That's what _I_ was asking..!" Suddenly he remembered the book, and decided it was more important than arguing.

 

"But what are you uh.. reading?" The thought of Luffy and 'reading' in the same sentence didn't quite fit his brains, at least at this hour.

 

Luffy's frown faded away quickly, like it never was there in the first place, and he turned back to his seemingly interesting book.

"It's our logbook! Nami has written all of our adventures here and it's really fun to read them again. It's like living those moments twice!" The rubber captain laughed merrily and turned back to his first mate with gleaming eyes.

"But the best parts are the ones when a new friend joins my crew!  Those are the moments I really could live a thousand times over."

 

Luffy looked like he doze off for a moment when he fell silent with half lidded eyes and a soft smile. Zoro didn't know what he should’ve said, or should he have said anything, so after a comfortable silence he answered shortly,

"Is that right.."

Luffy perked up from his daze and nodded eagerly at the swordsman.

"Yeah. But it’s too bad there's one adventure missing..."  Luffy mused and turned back to the logbook. He put his finger between the pages for a bookmark and opened the book from the very beginning.

 

"It belongs here,” he said as he traced his free hand over the page. “I know Nami couldn't write it, because she doesn't know what happened then. But I really think it should be here."

Zoro was silent for a moment. "You think so?"

"Yep, it's the most important of them, too! The story of how our adventure began. I didn't have even one nakama…" Luffy smiled. "And then I saved Zoro. And Zoro became my first nakama!"

He looked at his first mate and grinned widely. Zoro couldn't help but smirk a little at his captain taking pride of saving him.

 

"I see. How about you write that then."

Zoro meant that to make fun of his captain, but Luffy was too oblivious about the joking on his expense.

"Yosh! I'll do that!" Luffy exclaimed and seemed ready to start immediately, but suddenly the boy started snoring in his seat, head lolling forward and pulling him down till it hit the desk with a thump. Zoro snorted in slight amusement and sighed, deciding to carry the boy who now was fast asleep back to his bed to sleep more comfortably. He leaned over the desk to switch off the oil lamp, as he glanced at the logbook wide open on the wooden surface. Nami's cursive and neat handwriting was filling the pages. Zoro grabbed the book and flipped trough the many pages of adventures from the Arlong Park incident back to Enies Lobby.

 

_"It's been a pretty long time, huh…"_   the man thought with a small smile. _"And what next..?"_ He finally closed the book and turned off the oil lamp.

Zoro took hold of his happily snoring captain and started to make his way back to the men's quarters.

_"Well, let the time show, I guess,"_   he smirked.


End file.
